Severe gales are due to hit Auckland this afternoon after knocking out power and cancelling ferry sailings in the lower North Island.
The MetService has issued severe weather warnings for Wellington, Wairarapa and Hawkes Bay south of Napier as a front moves northwards from the lower North Island.
Severe weather watches are also in place further north including Auckland, Coromandel, the Bay Of Plenty and Gisborne.
MetService meteorologist John Law said north to northwest gales gusting up to 140km/h had hit Wellington and Wairarapa this morning, but had started to ease.
The strong winds cancelled East by West ferry sailings between Days Bay and Queen's Wharf in Wellington this morning.
However, flights and Interislander ferry sailings in the capital were unaffected and were running to schedule, airport and ferry spokespeople said.
In Wairarapa, hundreds of households were left without power after high winds and flying debris knocked out electricity lines.
Gas and electricity company Powerco said the first outages hit about 2am. About 350 customers were without power at 8am.
Powerco operations manager Phil Marsh said the company "was expecting a bit of a lull" in bad weather for the next few hours and hoped to restore electricity.
"We've had a few branches come down on lines, but also flying debris hitting the lines and knocking them down," he said.
Powerco urged people who saw downed power lines to avoid them.
"It's just possible that a line can remain live on the floor," Mr Marsh said.
Mr Law said while the wind had eased in Wellington, gusts of about 150km/h were still possible around the Rimutaka Hill road until the middle of the day.
"And we're still going to find some stronger winds in parts of Wairarapa and Hawkes Bay south of Napier through towards the evening."
A southerly change would also move up the eastern side of the South Island and towards Wellington today.
"And that could well bring the return of some sharper showers and perhaps even some hail too."
The wind would swing around to "more of a southwesterly" later in the day, Mr Law said.
"That's going to bring an issue in for the likes of Auckland and Coromandel as we head through in towards the end of the day."
Gusts of 100kmh hour would hit parts of Auckland from noon through to this afternoon. In Coromandel, gusts of up to 110kmh were expected.
"It will make it feel colder too in those southwesterly winds."
